40 Maute fighters killed

CHAIRPERSON Teresita Herbosa of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may not be the only overpaid but underworked member of the five-person regulatory body in 2015. Like her, the four other SEC commissioners have also become redundant but are among the government’s highest-paid officials.

Philippine troops fire their 105mm howitzer cannons towards enemy positions from their base near Butig town in Lanao del Sur province on the southern island of Mindana . AFP Photo

firepower, soldiers are cautious because there might be snipers and bombs in the area, he said.

Quoting Col. Roseller Murillo, commander of the Philippine Army’s 103rd Brigade, Arevalo said the encounter continued on Tuesday.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that while the government was not committing to a timeline, the military was expected to finish the operation by Wednesday in time for Duterte’s visit.

On Tuesday, Duterte’s advance party was bombed in Marawi City, wounding seven members of the Presidential Security Group and two other soldiers.

“Maybe the operation will end tomorrow, until we get all of them,” Lorenzana told reporters during the 77th anniversary celebration of the Department of National Defense.

Asked about an earlier pronouncement by Duterte that he might suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus to allow warrantless arrests in connection with the atrocities of the Maute Group, Lorenzana said there was no need for such declaration.

The offensive in Butig is a “normal military operation” against lawless elements, he said.

“I would advise him not to do that yet because the situation is still under control,” Lorenzana, a former military general, said.

The defense chief also disclosed that the military had confirmed the link of the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups with the extremist Islamic State (IS). Foreign IS agents have been seen in areas controlled by the two groups, he said.